Motorist wade through flood water to rescue trapped tradie

Rescue crews have their work cut out for them today as reports filter through of a motorist trapped in flood water.

As Ben Acworth was standing on the banks of the swollen Westbrook Creek he had to make a snap decision.

A man was trapped in a ute that had been washed off Wyreema Road and into the creek about 11am on Friday.

Mr Acworth had phoned the State Emergency Services and was told it might not get a crew to the incident for at least an hour but the water was rising rapidly.

Without hesitation Mr Acworth and another man grabbed a set of ratchet straps, tethered themselves together and waded into the water.

“It was pretty full on water,” he said

“I am not a tall man but the water was up to my chest,”

“We were holding onto a barbed wire fence and being pushed against it by the current.”

By this time about 40 onlookers were lining the banks watching the ad hoc rescue unfold.

Witnesses described seeing multiple vehicles attempting to make the dangerous crossing before the raging waters became too strong for the man and his ute.

“I saw a ute stuck in the water and thought, ‘what are they doing there,’ then I realised there was a bloke inside,” one witness said.

“The Westbrook Creek is 20 metres wide and flowing fast and it’s only going to get bigger.”

Slowly Mr Acworth and his fellow Good Samaritian made their way to the trapped man, pulled him off the roof of the ute and brought him to dry land.

When they looked back the ute had disappeared, washed away in the floodway.

Mr Acworth knew it was foolish and dangerous, but he said he had no choice.

“I knew it was foolish,” he said

“I have already copped a serve from my partner but I am not one of those people who can sit by and watch another person drown.

“Call me old fashioned but we are Australians and this is what we do for each other

“How can you tell your kids to do right by others if you are going to stand by and watch someone drown.”

Mr Acworth did get the name of his fellow good Samaritan who supplied the ratchet straps but he was glad to have them.

“It was his quick thinking with the ratchet straps that kept us safe,” he said.

“There is no way we could have gone in without them.”

Ben Acworth (right) and a stranger helped a man who was stuck in floodwater in the swollen Westrook Creed.

Darling Downs Road Policing Unit Officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Kim Hill urged motorists to drive with caution and stay out of flood water.

“If it is flooded, forget it,” she said.

“We have a lot of flash flooding across the Darling Downs and that flood can lift cars and even trucks off the road.

“Even if you are an experienced driver, you don’t know what the road conditions are life under the water”

Emergency Services want to avoid repeating the tragic circumstances of December 1, 2021 when a 73-year-old Roma man died after he was trapped in flood water west of Toowoomba, on Kelvinhaugh Yalangur Road.

“No matter how deep you think the water is, there is no way of knowing,” Sgt Hill said.

“The road could be washed away, there could be potholes.

“We certainly do now want any tragedies like what we have already seen at the Sunshine Coast in recent days.”

The heavy rain is expected to continue today and tomorrow.

Sgt Hill said caution was the key to staying safe and this includes giving plenty of space between yourself and fellow drivers.

“There is a lot of water on the road bringing the potential for aquaplaning and visibility is poor,” she said.